Hot Topics:

Statement victory for Lunenburg

By Nick Mallard, nmallard@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
02/01/2013 06:36:32 AM EST

WORCESTER -- What a way to make a statement.

While it's not quite on the level on the United States upsetting the Soviet Union in 1980, the Lunenburg ice hockey team sent shockwaves throughout the Central Mass. hockey world Thursday night, making its presence known as a team to be reckoned with.

The Blue Knights used a physical and fast game to upset Grafton/Blackstone Valley Tech 4-1 at Buffone Rink and punch their own postseason ticket.

The Blue Knights out-skated, out-hit and generally just outplayed the Indians, improving to 9-4-2 (4-3-1 Coughlin), while their hosts dropped to 10-4 (6-2 Coughlin).

"We qualify (for the Central Mass. Division 3A tournament), get a little bit of a redemption win from a 6-0 loss ... I couldn't be more happy right now," Lunenburg head coach Eric Short said, referring to the teams' matchup earlier this season. "We played a full three-period game against a great team. We had beat all the weaker teams that weren't going to make the playoffs, but we've been about .500 against teams that had qualified.

"This is one of the top teams and we showed tonight that we can play with the top teams."

Lunenburg trailed 1-0 after a Mike Moran goal 2:33, but then turned up the physical play and knotted things up. Jeff Kerr managed to tally the equalizer four minutes after the opening goal, batting a Collin Johansson rebound past Grafton netminder Sean Pratt (23 saves).

And from there, it was all Blue Knights.

Advertisement

Danny Baldino netted a pair of goals before the close of the first period to put the guests up 3-1 and Grafton never recovered.

"In a game like this, it's not going to be 1-0. Both teams have a lot of offense," Short said. "We got those goals, took control and played well defensively the rest of the way."

Baldino's first tally was of the shorthanded variety, as the sophomore took a perfect feed from Dan Hughes -- who had three helpers on the night -- on a two-on-one break and zipped a shot past Pratt.

And with just 47 seconds left in the opening stanza, Baldino collected a puck in the slot, fired through traffic and gave the Blue Knights a two-goal edge.

"I expressed it to the team that (Lunenburg was) going to come out hard and we just didn't step up," Grafton head coach Brian Lehtinen said. "In the first period, we got stuck in a hole that we couldn't get out of. We battled in the third period, but they stayed with us. We'll learn from it."

The Blue Knights threw their weight around in the game, rattling the Indians with thunderous hits along the boards and the result was defensemen timidly making plays and players constantly looking over their shoulders.

"We just wanted to go out and set the tone. We wanted to show them that we weren't messing around," said Lunenburg captain Tom Wagner, who had an assist on Baldino's second marker. "We went out and took the body and took them off their game. They were coming up the ice with their heads up, they're going to make some bad passes and feel the pressure."

Johansson netted the game's final goal just 1:17 into the second and from that point on the Lunenburg defense was the biggest factor in the contest. The Blue Knight blueliners kept the duo of Moran and Mike Palmer -- which had combined for 38 goals entering the game -- from quality chances, and the shots that did get through were turned away by netminder Alec McNamara. The junior goalie pushed aside 33 shots to earn the victory.

"We had good goaltending and good team defense. It was a full team effort," Short said. "Our defensemen are playing well and our forwards are getting back in our zone. We concentrated on their top guys tonight. We matched lines and went with two lines tonight to make sure our top guys matched up with theirs. We won the battle."

Grafton nearly pulled even at 2 late in the first, but a puck that went in off the leg of Pat Lorden was immediately called off. Lorden had crashed the crease and the puck went in off his skate as he applied pressure to McNamara.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.